BA directors' performance bonuses cut

British Airways directors have taken pay cuts as part of the airline's pounds 1bn efficiency drive. Chief executive Robert Ayling's total pay package has been cut by 9 per cent to pounds 513,000, thanks to a big cut in the value of his performance-related bonus for 1997. But the latest accounts reveal that Mr Ayling's basic salary actually rose this year by pounds 64,000 to pounds 400,000, an increase of more than 10 per cent, which left-wing Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn said was "disgraceful".

BA's finance director Derek Stevens saw his basic salary go up by pounds 12,000 to pounds 235,000, although a more than halved bonus took his total package down to pounds 301,000 from pounds 343,000. A BA spokesman said the performance bonus cuts were part of the airline's pounds 1bn cost-cutting programme, which has obliged 55,000 staff to accept pay freezes or cuts, and has led to calls for a strike by one union. The Transport & General Workers Union is planning to ballot members over BA's plans to sell off its long-haul in-flight catering business.